Eco-certification of fisheries in Vietnam: Making progress and building partnerships

From 5 to 9 March 2007, WWF Greater Mekong’s Vietnam Country Programme, in cooperation with the Vietnam Institute of Fisheries Investment and Planning (VIFEP) and the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), organized two workshops on “Developing Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in Vietnam”, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

These workshops aimed to raise awareness about MSC certification to Vietnam’s fisheries sector, and to identify potential community-based fisheries in Vietnam that may be suitable for entering the MSC certification process.

MSC is a certificate issued by the Marine Stewardship Council to wild capture fisheries that meet three main criteria: stock sustainability, negligible ecosystem impact, and a good management system. Previously, two fisheries – Ben Tre clams and Phu Quoc anchovies – were identified as potential MSC candidates in Vietnam.

In Ben Tre, WWF Vietnam is working closely with the MSC, the Department of Fisheries, and local fishermen in a planned, formal MSC assessment under the certification body Moody Marine. The Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City workshops were intended to build on this momentum and work closely with relevant authorities to identify additional candidates and to preliminarily assess the potential of these fisheries for MSC certification, using the WWF “Community Based Certification Pre-analysis Model”.

The workshops were successful in attracting the attention of officials from the Ministry of Fisheries, Provincial Departments of Fisheries, sub-Departments of Aquatic Resources Exploitation and Protection, VASEP, and major fisheries companies. The discussion focused on small-scale fisheries, characteristic of many Vietnam fisheries. Nine fisheries were nominated for discussion in the Hanoi workshop and thirteen short-listed in Ho Chi Minh City. Theses nominated fisheries will be explored further, utilizing the community-based certification model, for the possibility of applying for MSC certification.

Meanwhile, the certification process for the Ben Tre clam fishery is underway. If successful, the fishery will become the first in Southeast Asia to receive MCS certification.